Jayden Daniels remains 2024's top NFL quarterback in our Week 7 rankings

The bad news for Anthony Richardson is, with Bryce Young no longer taking snaps, he's the NFL's worst quarterback. The good news is he's slated to return from a hip injury in Week 7 to dig himself out of the hole he's created.

Richardson gets a favorable matchup against the Miami Dolphins' middling pass defense and a chance to rise up the quarterback ranks and prove he's a viable franchise building block. He's got a long way to go to catch up to Jayden Daniels, another young passer with SEC roots who, unexpectedly, as emerged as 2024's most efficient quarterback through six games.

Who fills out the ranking between Daniels and Richardson? Fortunately, we’ve got some advanced stats to help figure that out.

Expected points added (EPA) is a concept that’s been around since 1970. It’s effectively a comparison between what an average quarterback could be expected to do on a certain down and what he actually did — and how it increased his team’s chances of scoring. The model we use comes from The Athletic’s Ben Baldwin and his RBSDM.com website, which is both wildly useful AND includes adjusted EPA, which accounts for defensive strength. It considers the impact of penalties and does not negatively impact passers for fumbles after a completion.

The other piece of the puzzle is completion percentage over expected (CPOE), which is pretty much what it sounds like. It’s a comparison of all the completions a quarterback would be expected to make versus the ones he actually did. Like EPA, it can veer into the negatives and higher is better. So if you chart all 32 primary quarterbacks — the ones who played at least 96 snaps through six weeks — you get a chart that looks like this:

Try to divide that into tiers and you get a chart that looks like this:

Let’s see how this week’s rankings shook out.

1. Officially in his own tier (for now)

1. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders: 0.210 EPA+CPOE composite

Daniels couldn't defeat the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6, but he still played inspired football. He threw for nearly 270 yards and a pair of touchdowns without a turnover and added another 22 yards on the ground. Importantly, he got this done spraying the ball all over the field -- including with tough completions to the sideline.

2. Elite quarterbacks (and a fading Joe Flacco

2. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals: 0.184 EPA+CPOE composite

3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: 0.172

4. Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts: 0.159

Burrow is playing MVP caliber football and it's difficult to tell because his Bengals are 2-4. Allen is more prevalent because his Bills are winning, but also because he's getting things done with a relatively unheralded core of playmakers. Flacco's stay at the top was always going to be temporary. Like 2023, it was fun while it's lasted (and may give way to a QB battle with Anthony Richardson).

3. Good in very different ways (and maybe not that good?)

5. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: 0.153 EPA+CPOE composite

6. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers: 0.145

7. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints: 0.144

Jackson keeps doing MVP-type things, completing more than two-thirds of his passes for a career-high 8.7 yards per attempt. Purdy remains efficient even if 2024 has been a step back from last year's NFC title campaign. Carr's backslide began in Week 5 but was stemmed by the injury that pushed Spencer Rattler into a starting role against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While it briefly looked like he may be Wally Pipp-ed out of a starting role, Rattler fell back to earth and Carr remains the team's most viable passer.

4. A massive middle ground of good to very good quarterbacks

8. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons: 0.121 EPA+CPOE composite

9. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions: 0.119

10. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 0.118

11. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings: 0.116

12. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs: 0.109

13. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: 0.106

14. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks: 0.101

15. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles: 0.100

16. Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers: 0.098

17. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans: 0.096

Goff has risen up the ranks as 2024 progresses, even if the Lions are defaulting to old tricks (and it didn't matter in Week 7 because the Cowboys were powerless to stop it). He was 17th last week and now sits in the top 10 which feels like great news for Hurts, who gets to play that Dallas defense twice. Mayfield threw three interceptions in Week 6, which is bad. He also threw four touchdowns and his Bucs put up 51 points, so he remains on the border between good and great.

Fields has been solid but may still get replaced by Russell Wilson, ostensibly because Mike Tomlin has fond feelings about late-stage Ben Roethlisberger he's still working through. Hurts continues to search for his 2022 form. If he doesn't find it soon, it could cost Nick Sirianni his job.

5. Rising young quarterbacks and one 40-year-old man

18. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers: 0.084 EPA+CPOE composite

19. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears: 0.075

20. Daniel Jones, New York Giants: 0.059

21. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars: 0.058

22. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers: 0.056

23. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets: 0.054

Love was struggling to crack the top 30 thanks to a slow start and a leg injury. Then he rolled the Cardinals en route to four touchdowns (and one interception when his intended target fell down). He's trending upward, but so is his new NFC North rival Williams who looks like the franchise quarterback for whom Chicago has spent the last 40 years wandering the desert.

Lawrence bounced up the rankings even in a loss to the Bears in London where he was hamstrung by untimely drops (and a few bad decisions). Rodgers looked more like himself on Monday night, though it didn't matter in a 23-20 loss to the Bills that was utterly marred by baffling officiating. Jones is better than he was pre-injury in 2023, which is useful but still not great.

6. Stopgap options and veterans hamstrung by their supporting cast

24. Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers: 0.047 EPA+CPOE composite

25. Gardner Minshew II, Las Vegas Raiders: 0.046

26. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans: 0.043

27. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys: 0.041

28. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams: 0.040

Dalton is a stopgap. Minshew has already been replaced by Aidan O'Connell, who has a 0.012 composite score in 2024. Levis is arguably the NFL's most entertaining quarterback (derogatory).

Prescott signed an extension for the most guaranteed money in league history this offseason and has been one of its worst quarterbacks. Jerry Jones is not pleased. Stafford's place here is concerning, but we'll see how he does when Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp return to the lineup.

7. Bad in different ways

29. Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots: 0.008 EPA+CPOE composite

30. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns: 0.006

31. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos: 0.006

Like in 2022, Watson -- once accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what the NFL later described as "predatory behavior" -- is staring up at Brissett in these rankings. The difference here is Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo understood a change needed to be made and dropped Drake Maye into the starting lineup (his Week 6 composite was 0.012 thanks to three touchdown passes, some useful scrambles and a pair of interceptions). The Browns have no interest in following suit with Jameis Winston waiting in the wings.

8. The comeback starts here

32. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts: -0.009 EPA+CPOE composite

He was solid against the Steelers in Week 4 before leaving with a hip injury. If he can pick up where he left up, he'll be back in the positives in no time.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Jayden Daniels remains 2024's top NFL quarterback in our Week 7 rankings